Faculty Orientation 2017-2018 Program Summary October 31, 2017

Prepared by: Anne Marie Canale and Cheryl Herdklotz Faculty Career Development Office of the Associate Provost The Wallace Center

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Faculty Orientation Program Summary

New Faculty Orientations are prime opportunities to engage faculty, facilitate knowledge acquisition, and introduce faculty to key services at the university, important resources, and expectations about teaching, research, and service. This academic year, Faculty Career Development (FCD) designed, developed and delivered four different orientations to new full-time faculty (NFO), adjunct faculty (AFO), international faculty (IFO), and graduate teaching assistants (TAO). Guided by the university's strategic plan, our orientations were designed around the "15 RIT Strategic Plan Priorities for Early Implementation," specifically, Difference Maker III.7 "RIT will become a model of inclusive excellence for all faculty and staff in the areas of professional development and promotion"1. Details, feedback, and future recommendations for each are described in the following report. New Faculty Orientation (NFO) for Full-time Faculty The FCD team designs and delivers a two and a half day orientation for all new tenure track and non-tenure track full-time faculty as part of their onboarding experience. The events scheduled during these first days are intended to convey critical information that will ensure successful assimilation to the RIT community and facilitate knowledge acquisition. A host of campus partners are invited to present on topics as wide-ranging as faculty’s role as a teacher-scholar, teaching the deaf and hard-of-hearing student population, and using the technologies on campus. Faculty are also given the opportunity to meet with other campus support units which provide services for both student and faculty success. NFO 2017 Schedule of Events Each year, changes to the NFO program are implemented in response to feedback received, the changing demographics of the new faculty, and current literature and research related to onboarding and faculty development. Being mindful that new faculty join from different ranks (tenure track, non-tenure track), the team continues to guide presenters in designing sessions to ensure they are inclusive of all faculty. The NFO 2017 schedule may be found on our NFO website and is included as Appendix A. Three new sessions were added for NFO 2017:

• Facilitating Student Resilience in the Classroom - Presented by David Reetz, Director of Counseling and Psychological Services

• Conversations with Chairs – A panel discussion that included Sharon Beckford-Foster, CLA, Shal Khazanchi, SCB, and Steve Zilora, GCCIS. The goal was to offer suggestions and strategies to guide faculty in acclimating to their new department and the RIT community, offering tips for communicating and interacting with chairs, department heads, and other new colleagues.

• Title IX – Presented by Stacy DeRooy, this session provided an overview of RIT's policies and process for handling Title IX issues while reinforcing expectations for community behavior.

1 "15 RIT Strategic Plan Priorities for Early Implementation.” Fall 2016. RIT Strategic Plan 2015-2020: Greatness Through Difference. Retrieved from RIT, https://www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/top-15-priorities.

“Thank you for providing us with resources and making us feel welcome. While I arrived at RIT two weeks ago, meeting new faculty has finally made me feel like I belong and helped me make several new connections.”

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The NFO website also holds resources and tools for new faculty, such as the NFO roster that includes research and teaching interests for future collaborations, milestone checklists to guide faculty through their first year, and a plethora of links to useful campus resources. Feedback from NFO 2017 attendees may be found in Appendix B. NFO Attendance by Rank and College Out of the 60 new hires reported from RIT’s Oracle database, 42 (70%) attended one or more days of NFO on August 16-18, 2017, as presented by college in Table 1. By rank the largest group of new hires was visiting lecturer (46%), followed by assistant professors (24%), then lecturers (17%). See Table 2.

Table 1: New Faculty by College

College Total by College Attended NFO

CAST 4 2

CHST 1 1 CIAS 8 7 CLA/Writing Commons 10 5 COS 6 3 GCCIS 11 10 KGCOE 7 4 NTID 9 7 SCB 4 3 TOTAL 60 42

Table 2: Total New Faculty Hires by Rank

Rank # Faculty Visiting Lecturers (Non-Tenure Track) 27 Assistant Professors (Tenure Track) 14 Lecturers (Non-Tenure Track) 10 Visiting Assistant Professors (Non-Tenure Track) 5 Research Assistant Professors (Non-Tenure Track) 3 Unknown 1 Total 60

Recommendations for NFO 2018 The FCD team continues to seek feedback from faculty, chairs and deans in order to improve the experience for future orientations, and to model the "by faculty-for faculty" strategy for presenters where appropriate. Because the use of an online evaluation over the past few years has yielded very few responses, the team will consider the return of at-event evaluations to gather a higher percentage of responses and more valuable feedback. The structure and design of the 2018 NFO will reflect this year’s feedback to ensure that all new faculty acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to begin their RIT career. FCD looks forward to continuing to partner with other units within the university to design and execute an experience that will be both welcoming and valuable to the next cohort.

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Adjunct Faculty Orientation (AFO) Now in its fifth year, Adjunct Faculty Orientation (AFO) is offered prior to each new semester (August and January). It is designed specifically to meet the needs of adjuncts, who often need to prepare to teach at RIT in a short time frame. AFOs are open to all new adjunct faculty as well as returning adjuncts as a “refresher.” These orientations include abbreviated versions of what RIT’s full-time faculty receive at orientation such as teaching deaf and hard-of-hearing students, an overview of Teaching & Learning Services, RIT library resources, the Student Information System (SIS), Student Advising systems, and new this year -- a presentation from the campus Title IX coordinator. Time is included in the agenda for socializing and networking to allow for a warm welcome to RIT. Thirty-four adjunct faculty attended August’s orientation and 24 attended the January 2017 session.

Table 3: Adjunct Faculty Attendees by College – August 2017 AFO College # Attended College # Attended

CAST 3 GCCIS 4

CHST 1 KGCOE 2

CIAS 8 SCB 1

CLA 12 SOIS 1

COS 2 TOTAL 34

The AFO website continues to be developed to best meet needs of our adjunct faculty. Feedback from the attendees was collected online after AFO (26% response rate), and suggestions from attendees will be incorporated into future AFOs. For example, adjunct faculty requested sessions on syllabus design and HR policies for adjuncts, so these have been added to the FCD adjunct faculty programs. Adjuncts are invited to a series of follow-on activities designed uniquely for them as part of FCD's Adjunct Community Mentoring Group; for example, in November 2017 adjunct faculty are invited to a "dinner and discussion" with a presentation on student behaviors along with time to network. A second workshop will be held in December on course syllabus design. Future Adjunct Faculty Orientations & Adjunct Community Group FCD will continue coordination of the AFO programs with revisions based on feedback and needs to support effective teaching. The Adjunct Community Mentoring Group model will be continued; the team will be seeking new professional development and networking activities exclusively for this population. These activities enable networking and shared conversation around teaching in today’s classroom and provide guidance and support for RIT’s valued adjunct faculty population. International Faculty Orientation (IFO) Pilot In response to an exploration visit to Dubai by the Associate Provost for Faculty Development and RIT Libraries global librarian, International Faculty Orientation (IFO) was launched as a pilot in September 2017. IFO's main goal was to establish a sense of community between our international campuses and the main RIT campus; and second, to provide the same access to RIT resources and campus systems. IFO included a virtual faculty orientation with RIT Dubai and the design and development of an accompanying website with videos, self-paced tutorials, and other resources for faculty accessible at their convenience on topics such as RIT's Early Alert System, Academic Integrity, etc. (see bit.ly/InternationalFacultyOrientation). Other

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campuses (Croatia-Dubrovnik, Croatia-Zagreb, Kosovo) received a welcome message and invitation to use all of the web resources on the new IFO site. Future International Faculty Orientations Feedback on the IFO pilot is being collected and will be used to guide the next iteration of IFO. Future plans may include a virtual, synchronous orientation session to include all of the campuses. Based on the first experience with a virtual component, the team has agreed there is a need to better use technology to ensure a seamless delivery of the orientation to RIT’s global campuses. The plan is to continue building the online collection of self-paced tutorials for these faculty on a variety of topics allowing access to both new and returning faculty. Teaching Assistant Orientation (TAO) In early summer 2017, the Dean of Graduate Education approached the Faculty Career Development team for help designing a new orientation program for Graduate Teaching Assistants (TAO). The idea was to provide orientation to new Teaching Assistants who would need to be prepared for teaching and learning scenarios unique to the RIT classroom. This program was also made available to students aspiring to become a TA by setting the stage for a successful transition from student to teacher. The program is modeled after the highly successful AFO and includes presentations from Teaching & Learning Services, Counseling and Psychological Services, Access Services, and RIT Libraries. Future Teaching Assistant Orientations Going forward, FCD will continue to serve as consultants to the Office of Graduate Education, but the delivery will be coordinated by their staff following the same model. Recommendations included:

• Dean Cummings and her team should connect with Teaching & Learning Services because of the teaching focus needed for this orientation.

• The orientation should be split into two sessions: one being an overview for students aspiring to be a graduate TA, and the other session for those who have been appointed TAs (like the model FCD created).

Additional Onboarding Opportunities for RIT Faculty The orientation programs are focused on three key success factors for all new faculty: introduction to critical information; socialization with their cohort and RIT culture; and network building within and across colleges and disciplines. In addition, FCD provides additional onboarding opportunities for faculty throughout the academic year as they continue to assimilate into the RIT community through FCD’s Faculty Success Series. At RIT, there is no greater resource than the faculty, and their success is of paramount importance. Effective orientations and onboarding programs for faculty are a necessary first step for all faculty, at all ranks. The FCD team will continue to develop orientations based on an assessment of past programs, best practices and research in the field, and by evaluating faculty experiences.

NEW FACULTY ORIENTATION 2017 SCHEDULE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2017

Time Session Title/Presenter 8:30 – 8:55 am Registration & Continental Breakfast

Gosnell Entryway and Atrium – Lower Level 8:55 – 9:00 am Opening Remarks

Gosnell Auditorium, A-300 Lynn Wild, Associate Provost

9:00 – 9:30 am Welcome to RIT Gosnell Auditorium, A-300 Provost Jeremy Haefner

9:40 – 10:40 am Facilitating Student Resilience in the Classroom: Strategies for Early Identification and Intervention Gosnell Auditorium, A-300 David Reetz, Director, Counseling and Psychological Services

Focuses on identifying the personal, non-cognitive barriers that students bring to the classroom. Trends in college student well-being will be presented as well as strategies to identify early signs of distressed and distressing behavior. Additionally, practical skills and strategies for effective prevention and early intervention will be examined. The end result will be a slightly more tuned learning environment that inspires students to manage challenges and setbacks more effectively and fulfill their academic plan.

10:40 – 10:50 am BREAK 10:50 – 12:00 pm Working with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students Panel

Gosnell Auditorium, A-300 Mark Rosica (Moderator), Associate Professor/Counselor, Student & Academic Services, NTID/RIT; Karen Beiter, Information & Computing Studies; Kelly Davis, Financial Accounting, SCB; Ann Marie Kuntz, Manager Real Time Captioning/Notetaking; Steve Nelson, Director of Operations, Access Services

Provides an overview of information and resources that assist instructors with classroom teaching strategies that foster collaborative learning among deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing students. A panel discussion will inform new faculty about the key roles and resources to support student success in the classroom. Panelists include RIT and NTID faculty and staff from Access Services and Academic Services, all of whom will provide recommendations to help make instruction more accessible for the deaf/hard-of-hearing student. Panelists will share the roles and expectations of key players in the classroom learning environment (student, faculty, interpreters, captionist, notetaker, etc.) and will share key campus resources for both faculty and students.

12:00 – 12:15 pm NEW FACULTY ESCORTED TO LUNCH 12:15 – 1:00 pm Lunch & Networking - Research Division/Sponsored Research Services (SRS)

University Gallery (BOO, Rm 2765)

Continue building your network! Meet your SRS liaisons and chat with your new colleagues.

APPENDIX A: NFO 2017 SCHEDULE

Time Session Title/Presenter 1:15 – 2:15 pm

Your RIT Career Trajectory Gosnell Auditorium, A-300 Christine Licata, Senior Associate Provost Better understand how to effectively traverse the faculty expectations placed on you. Hear what RIT faculty and students say is important to being successful. Review strategies for matching your personal interests with institutional priorities. Learn how to ignite your career at RIT!

2:15 – 3:15 pm

Conversations with Chairs Gosnell Auditorium, A-300 Sharon Beckford-Foster, Chair & Associate Professor, Department of English, CLA; Shalini (Shal) Khazanchi, Chair & Associate Professor, Management, IB & Entrepreneurship, SCB; Steve Zilora, Chair & Professor, Information Sciences & Technologies, GCCIS Introduces current RIT Department Chairs who will offer suggestions and strategies to guide faculty in acclimating to their new department and the RIT community, offering tips for communicating and interacting with new colleagues. The panelists will share what new faculty should be talking about with their Chair, and when, during the course of their career at RIT. Sample topics for discussion, followed by Q & A with the panelists: • Best practices for communicating with leadership and new colleagues in your

department and across disciplines • Recommendations for what NOT to do in your first years • Advice on annual reviews, plan of work, promotion and/or tenure, and student

evaluations 3:15 – 3:25 pm Faculty Career Development Overview & Day 1 Wrap-Up

Gosnell Auditorium, A-300 Cheryl Herdklotz & Anne Canale, Faculty Career Development Consultants Learn how the FCD team provides faculty with opportunities geared toward advancement through the different stages of an academic career. Hear how it provides support through RIT’s faculty mentoring program, academic leadership development, and other special events and presentations.

3:30 – 4:30 pm

The Finish Line: Wine & Cheese Reception Gosnell Atrium Relax and unwind with your new colleagues!

-----THURSDAY 8/17/17 COLLEGE BREAKFAST SCHEDULE----- College Date Time Location

CAST 8/17/2017 8:00-9:15am Ross Hall/ROS, Room A252, Dean's Conference Room (downstairs)

CIAS 8/17/2017 8:00-9:15am Gannett Hall/GAN, Neblette Room 1104, Dean's Office area

COLA 8/17/2017 8:00-9:15am Liberal Arts Hall/LBR, Room 1251, Commons Room

GCCIS 8/17/2017 8:00-9:15am Golisano Hall/GOL, Room 2400

KGCOE 8/17/2017 8:00-9:15am Gleason Hall/GLE, Conference Room 3119

SCB 8/17/2017 8:00-9:15am Lowenthal Hall/LOW, Room 2312

NTID 8/21/2017* 8:30-10:30am Student Development Center, Room 1300/1310

COS 8/21/2017* 8:30-9:30am Thomas Gosnell Hall/GOS, Room 2300 (part of day-long COS orientation)

*NOTE 1) the dates for COS’s and NTID’s events; and 2) no college breakfast is scheduled for CHST or GIS

NEW FACULTY ORIENTATION 2017 SCHEDULE THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017

9:30 am – 4:30 pm - Individual Professional Photos Available all day - no appointment necessary. Elizabeth Torgerson-Lamark, RIT Production Services, Location: The Wallace Center, A-405 (lower level)

Time Session Title/Presenter 8:00 – 9:15 am College Breakfasts

Various dates/times/locations (check listing) 9:15 – 9:30 am Day 2 Registration

Gosnell Entryway 9:30 – 10:15 am Orientation to SIS

Gosnell Auditorium, A-300 Tina Sturgis, Sr. Associate Registrar; Luke Auburn, Senior Communication Specialist All RIT class instructors must use the Faculty Center within RIT’s Student Information System (SIS) to enter grades and access their class schedules, class rosters and historic grade rosters. All permanent, non-adjunct faculty have access to Advisor Center as well, which provides a modified view of what students see when they log in to the SIS. Advisor Center serves as a central location that allows you to see a student’s schedule of classes, advisors, holds, course history, unofficial transcript and more.

10:15 – 11:00 am Using Starfish to Send Academic Alerts Gosnell Auditorium, A-300 Stephanie Bauschard, Associate Director, University Advising Office RIT’s academic alert system allows instructors to send timely feedback and information to students regarding their performance in a course. This session will serve as an introduction to the system including:

• An overview of the system and its purpose. • User roles in the Starfish system and processes. • How to access the Starfish system & send academic alerts through Progress

Surveys. • How to access additional training and support for the Starfish system.

11:00 – 11:15 am BREAK & WALK TO TWC 11:15 – 12:00 pm RIT Libraries – Resources & Your College Librarian

The Wallace Center (TWC), 2nd Floor, ViaLab, Room 2430 Margaret Bartlett, Sr. Manager, Research & Instruction Services, RIT Libraries, TWC, & Staff Enjoy an overview of services provided by RIT Libraries in support of faculty success - from classroom instruction on library resources to course reserves to one of our newer initiatives on academic integrity! Also, you will have time to meet with your College Library Liaison, so please bring your questions. They are here to help!

12:00 – 12:45 pm Networking Lunch & Overview of Innovative Learning Institute (ILI) The Wallace Center (TWC), 1st Floor Neil Hair, Executive Director, ILI

12:45 – 1:00 pm BREAK & WALK TO GOSNELL Afternoon Sessions – Gosnell Auditorium A-300

Time Session Title/Presenter 1:00 – 1:15 pm Teaching & Learning Services (TLS) Overview

Gosnell Auditorium A-300 Ian Webber, Director of Teaching & Learning Services An overview of the support and resources available from the Innovative Learning Institute and TLS, your source for support and ideas about course design, classroom activities, online learning, academic technology, and media.

1:15 – 1:30 pm What to Expect in the Classroom Gosnell Auditorium A-300 Matt Nicosia, Supervisor of Classroom Technology Operations An orientation to the technology and controls you’ll find in most classrooms. New faculty can also sign up for an orientation in their scheduled classrooms.

1:30 – 2:15 pm myCourses Orientation Gosnell Auditorium A-300 Ken Kindler, Manager of Academic Technology Systems A high-level tour of RIT’s Learning Management System, myCourses. New faculty can also sign up for myCourses training and one-to-one consultation.

2:15 – 2:25 pm BREAK 2:25 – 3:00 pm Your Teaching Mindset

Gosnell Auditorium A-300 Jeremiah Parry-Hill, Interim Manager for Instructional Design-TLS An interactive session to help new faculty determine and reflect on their teaching mindset, and how TLS can help them achieve their teaching goals.

3:00 – 3:05 pm Wrap-up Day 2 & Evaluations / Walk to TWC Gosnell Auditorium, A-300 Anne Canale & Cheryl Herdklotz

3:05 – 4:00 pm Resource Fair The Wallace Center (TWC), 1st Floor Campus Representatives

This exposition is a valuable opportunity to obtain information on campus units and services that can assist you and your students. Meet representatives from advising, academic support, the writing center, sponsored research, and our university press, to name a few. Please don’t miss this opportunity to discover RIT’s wonderful resources, while expanding your RIT network.

4:00 – 4:30 pm Title IX The Wallace Center (TWC), 2nd Floor, ViaLab, Room 2430 Stacey DeRooy, Title IX Coordinator Provides an overview of RIT's policies and process for handling Title IX complaints while reinforcing expectations for community behavior. The session will inform faculty of resources available to them and their obligations related to complying with Title IX and related statutes.

NEW FACULTY ORIENTATION 2017 SCHEDULE FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017

Time Session Title/Presenter 8:15 – 8:30 am Day 3 Registration & Continental Breakfast

Gosnell Entryway and Atrium 8:30 – 9:00 am

Meet Your Faculty Associates Gosnell Auditorium, A-300 Margaret Bailey, Senior Faculty Associate for ADVANCE Kijana Crawford, Chair AALANA Faculty Advisory Council Betsy Dell, Faculty Associate for Women faculty Marcos Esterman Faculty Associate for AALANA faculty Elizabeth Hane, Faculty Associate for General Education [not present] Daniel Phillips, Faculty Associate for the Partnership for Effective Access Technology Research & Development Elena Sommers, Faculty Associate for Non-Tenure track faculty [not present] Meet the Provost’s Faculty Associates and learn about their role addressing areas of priority for RIT while providing leadership and support for their colleagues.

9:00 – 11:00 am

Human Resources – RIT Employee Benefits Gosnell Auditorium, A-300 Judy DeCourcey, Senior Benefits Specialist We know how important this topic is to our new faculty! At this session you will hear all about RIT’s Employee Benefits. Immediately following this information-filled presentation, new faculty will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with benefits representatives to get answers to your questions. A representative will also be available to help complete the I-9 form and other paperwork as needed.

11:10 am– 12:00pm

Optional Personal Meetings with HR Representatives Gosnell Auditorium, A-300 HR Representatives: Val Leigey and Brett Lagoe I-9 Completion, Gosnell Atrium Information Technology Services, Gosnell Atrium ITS representatives will be available to answer questions concerning RIT email access, etc.

NFO 2017 FINAL- 8-14-17

12:00–2:30 pm Individual Professional Photos Available (no appointment necessary) Elizabeth Torgerson-Lamark, RIT Production Services, Location: The Wallace Center, A-405 (lower level)

FACULTY CAREER DEVELOPMENT rit.edu/facultydevelopment

APPENDIX B 2017 NEW FACULTY ORIENTATION (NFO) POST-EVENT FEEDBACK SUMMARY

The Faculty Career Development (FCD) team collects and evaluates feedback received from new faculty attending New Faculty Orientation; results are used to guide future iterations of NFO and other onboarding activities for the new faculty cohort. Upon completion of each day of NFO, post-event evaluations are delivered to faculty electronically using a Qualtrics survey. Out of the 42 total faculty attending, response rates were approximately 42% total. An overview of this year’s evaluations follows. Day 1 Feedback = 17 responses • Faculty overwhelmingly rated their experience as excellent or very good. • Sessions found most useful included:

o Provost’s Welcome Message o Facilitating Student Resilience in the Classroom (David Reetz) o Working with Deaf/HH Students (NTID panel) o RIT Career Trajectory (Chris Licata).

• Faculty found the panel discussion Conversations with Chairs “somewhat useful” • Additional Day 1 comments:

o Great job! Best orientation I've ever been to. Thank you for the lovely gift. o Overall, a great experience. Well-structured. It has really been an example of the RIT

experience. o NFO is extremely helpful! o The best aspects of the event was that the facilitators and provost and other senior

colleagues introduced themselves at breakfast, and later during the reception. o Panel on the deaf and hard of hearing students was exemplary. Very interesting. o Non-tenure track faculty might not need some of the sessions. o Schedule was very tight. o Increase how much speakers interact with the audience.

Day 2 Feedback = 16 responses • Day 2 featured teaching resources and services, a resource fair, and a new session on Title IX

compliance o RIT Library staff presented a session on their services, followed by break-outs with each

college’s library liaison. o ILI staff presented sessions including a TLS Overview, What to Expect in the Classroom,

myCourses Orientation, and Your Teaching Mindset. • Additional Day 2 comments:

o Everything was very good. o myCourses was excellent! One of the best software tool orientation I have attended. o Everything was excellent. o Would like more time for Your Teaching Mindset o Loved Parry-Hill's presentation. Would've liked more time spent on that. o It was a long day and I felt overwhelmed with so much good information.

FACULTY CAREER DEVELOPMENT rit.edu/facultydevelopment

o Would like hands-on, computers available for myCourses and SIS. Day 3 Feedback = 12 responses • Day 3 (1/2 day) included:

o A brief session for the Provost’s Faculty Associates to introduce themselves o HR benefits session. Judy DeCourcey’s session is always highly rated. o Faculty also appreciated the opportunity to meet one-on-one with HR benefits specialists,

I-9 personnel, and Information Technology Services (ITS) staff. • Additional Day 3 comments:

o Purpose of meeting faculty associates was unclear; perhaps provide a handout. o Benefits presentation was simply awesome. o Judy knew her stuff! Even though it was the longest session it was probably the most

useful. o Judy DeCourcey was excellent!! Very informative. And the meetings afterwards with

the HR representatives for private questions sure helped me select my benefit package that best fit my needs.

o Well structured. It has really been an example of the RIT experience. o Inspire the NFO team to continue to bring new faculty all the tools and information

needed to make them successful as they begin their careers at RIT. o Overall, NFO was very helpful and made life easier during first few days at RIT! o Thank you for providing us with resources and making us feel welcome. While I

arrived at RIT two weeks ago, meeting new faculty has finally made me feel like I belong and helped me make several new connections.

o Again, great job to the team who set up this orientation!